Water Part Two

Vietnam, like most countries in South East Asia, does not have drinkable tap water and since I’ve lived here, I think I’ve used more plastic water bottles than I have ever used while in Canada (even in elementary school my mom used to pack my water or juice in a reusable water bottle). What is most ironic is that environmental NGOs operating in Vietnam often use plastic water bottles, be they for conferences, during trips to the field, or even in the office!

Though much NGO attention in Vietnam is given to protecting water bodies from issues such as hydropower development and climate change, hardly enough attention is given to water systems in the cities and to providing safe drinking water to city dwellers. Even in the rural provinces, people would get their drinking water though boiling and storing, but this has proven to be unsanitary on numerous occasions because of poor storing practices leading to recontamination of the water. Hence, I’ve also seen many rural people purchase plastic water bottles. It is also ironic that city dwellers travel to the rural areas in hopes of bringing about “sustainable development” when in reality the cities are far from being sustainable themselves when it comes to drinking and using water. Because tap water isn’t drinkable, people often buy plastic water bottles in bulk, and because there aren’t any proper waste management programs let alone recycling programs in Hanoi, the water bottles get thrown into the streets or worse, into the lakes or other water resources, leading to water deterioration. In Waterloo, the international development program has been a strong advocate for the environment going hand in hand with development practices, especially for cities. Without keeping the environment in mind, city development is flawed.

Water and sanitation comes from the help of governments and their support in the construction of adequate water management infrastructure; these systems can help achieve access to clean water for washing, cooking, drinking, and managing water waste. But just because there is no government involvement, does that mean the environment has to suffer through our unsustainable use of plastic water bottles? All of this reminded me of a Ted Talk sent to me by my friend Moin last year.

“A man named Michael Pritchard invented a machine, Lifesaver, which sterilizes contaminated water so that it is safe to drink. He uses science to explain the technology. Basically, the smallest virus and bacteria are 200 nanometres and 25 nanometres respectively, and the pump has pores that are 15 nanometres large, barricading any unwanted parasites from getting through.” (Read this blog post to find out more).  

This idea suggests that instead of shipping sterile water from developed countries (for example La Vie, a product of the multibillion dollar company Nestle and a very popular water brand in Vietnam), we should just use the water Mother Nature provides us and make it sterile with Lifesaver. Investing in simple technologies is very beneficial because they can be used easily every day and are not difficult to maintain. With Lifesaver, people can sterilize and use water resources available from their taps instead of purchasing plastic water bottles or risking their health by relying on time consuming and sometimes unguaranteed methods such as boiling. Furthermore, these bottles are portable so that people can travel with them! In south East Asia, I’ve visited about 4 other countries already, 3 of which did not have safe drinking water. Naturally, one can expect that thousands of other tourists in cities with the same problem as Hanoi will resort to purchasing bottled water on a daily basis. If these people had Lifesaver, the amount of waste in plastic water bottles can be greatly reduced! It’s a shame that cities like Hanoi have access to water from the turn of a tap, but that water isn’t safe to drink. Once these cities can move away from plastic water bottles and disposing them wherever they please, they can move towards safer development that is harmonious with the environment.